CAF drops Morocco as host of 2015 African Cup of Nations, throws out Morrocan team

The Confederation of African Football CAF today
dropped Morocco as host of the 2015 African Cup
of Nations which is billed to start from Jan 17th-
Feb 9th 2015. At an executive committee meeting
which held this morning in Cairo Egypt, CAF's
leadership said the decision to drop Morocco was
as a result of the Moroccan authority's request to
postpone the competition due to Ebola fears.
CAF leadership says they cannot postpone the
competition and have withdrawn the rights of
Morroco to host it. The Morrocan national team
was also flung out of the competition. Find the
statement from CAF as posted on their website
after the cut...
At its meeting on 11th November 2014 in Cairo,
the Executive Committee of the Confederation of
African Football (CAF) has taken note of the
response of the Minister of Youth and Sports of
the Kingdom of Morocco in a letter dated 8
November 2014 requesting the postponement of
the Orange Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.
This response clearly indicates that the Royal
Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its refusal
to hold the competition on the dates indicated
(January 17-February 8, 2015). Therefore, having
firmly and unanimously notified on 3 November its
decision to keep the competition on the dates
indicated, the Executive Committee confirmed that
the Orange Africa Cup of Nations 2015 will not
take place in Morocco.
The Organising Committee of the Orange Africa
Cup of Nations will later apply the statutory
provisions that are required due to a breach of the
Royal Moroccan Football Federation regulatory and
contractual provisions, including those set out in
the Host Association Agreement signed between
CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation
in April 2014.
The Executive Committee took note of receipt by
10 November, 2014 of some applications of
national associations confirming their desire to
host the 2015 competition on the dates agreed.
These applications are currently under review, and
the Executive Committee will finalize the selection
of the successful National Association shortly and
confirm the place and date of the draw of the final
tournament at the same time.
The Executive Committee confirms the
continuation of qualifiers match-days 5 & 6, which
will be held during the month (14/15 November
and 19 November), paving the way for the
qualification of the 15 teams that will be joining
the team of the host country. Accordingly, and
following the refusal of the Moroccan party, the
Executive Committee has decided that the national
team of Morocco is automatically disqualified and
will not take part in the 30th edition of the Orange
Africa Cup of Nations in 2015.